Hotel baron David Deague in $350k Bali holiday heist

Cameron Houston and Chris Vedelago

The Birthday celebrations of Melbourne property developer David Deague have been soured by a gang of thieves who stole $350,000 worth of goods from an exclusive Balinese resort.

The heist included jewellery, watches, cash, cameras and other electrical items that were taken on June 3 from the Alila Villas in Uluwatu, where Mr Deague was celebrating his 70th birthday with his children and grand-children.

The thieves are believed to have scaled a limestone cliff, avoiding regular security patrols, before entering several luxury villas in the early morning. A closed-circuit camera outside the rooms is believed to have been broken and failed to detect the intruders.

Other guests from Australia and China also reported thefts to the South Kuta police station, but investigators are baffled by the audacious raid.

"There were no sign of any break in on the doors or windows," said South Kuta police officer Wayan Widana.

"The villa doors were locked, but the bedroom not locked. We also found no evidence of anyone entering the villa.

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"No foot prints in the garden or the sand, no sign of dew or dust disturbed on the walls to indicate [that] someone had climbed the walls. The only way for an outsider to enter would be to have a duplicate key."

A spokesman for the Deague family confirmed the robbery, but declined to discuss details.

"We love Bali and we love the people. This is unfortunate, but it definitely wont put us off coming back," said a family member.

The Deague family company, Asian Pacific Group, is behind the $500 million Art Series Hotels, which include the Cullen, the Olsen and the Blackman in Melbourne, with plans for other hotels at the Royal Children’s Hospital complex and in Adelaide.

The family had spent five days at the Alila Villas, which regularly appear on International Traveller magazine’s best hotel list, with rooms costing about $800 per night.